He's After Me
by readingfreak10
Summary: Kate and her friend CR have always been fans of the paranormal. Then, isn't it great to live in the middle of a park? To them, it is. Kate and CR go ghost hunting. But not everything turns out how they wanted it to go... *A/N: I uploaded this story here before, but I think it got deleted for some reason. So I'm uploading it again.*
1. Chapter 1

I put some sandwiches and my flashlight in my bag and waited for CR to arrive. We were going ghost hunting, as usual. Actually, it's nothing special: It's just a walk through the forest during the night. We always hoped we'd see something special, out of the ordinary, but in the forest surrounding us, also known as Oakside Park, nothing ever happened.

CR arrived at my place 5 minutes later, camera in hand. He'd always been a fan of paranormal things and still had the hope he'd see a ghost or something like that. I said goodbye to my parents and left.

CR was, as usual, extremely excited, and he gave you the impression he could explode of happiness every second. He began recording our surroundings and ourselves. I stopped telling him to ask me stupid questions a while ago; He'd always continued the next time we went ghost hunting.

We walked a few miles before needing a rest. CR stopped recording as soon as we sat at the edge of the lake to admire the beauty of the moon reflected on the water. I pull out the two sandwiches and give one to CR. He accepts it gratefully and begins taking little bites.

"I've got the feeling something's going to happen tonight." He says so quietly it's more like a whisper, but I can still hear that spark of excitement in his voice.

"You always do." I joke, nudging him.

"That's true. But this time, it's different." He whispers so softly it looks like he's scared someone else would hear it.

"Are you okay?" I ask. "Why are you whispering while we're here, alone? Are you scared someone will hear us? A ghost, maybe?" I raise my eyebrows, but I've got a giant smile plastered on my face.

"Are you kidding? Never!" He stand on his feet in one swift movement and looks down at me with such a pride in his eyes, I can't help laughing at him. He seems to find it funny, too, and sits back down.

"Do you think we should continue walking?" I ask. "We can finish our sandwiches on the way."

"Okay. Where do you wanna go?" He stands up again, but this time it's for good.

"Erm... Let's just stick to east." I take out my compass and point east. "There."

CR turns on his camera and I pick up my flashlight. I take the last bites of my sandwich and stand up. The dark shades of the night make the forest seem more luguber than it actually is. CR was already back in his own world where only he and the camera existed, and sometimes me. He continued asking me those dumb questions.

But you never know when that will change.

"Kate, do you believe in ghosts"?


	2. Chapter 2

I stand still, wondering if he's serious. Of course he is. That's not a question to mess with.

"I... eh..." The words are failing me. Do I? Do I really believe in ghosts? I've asked myself the same question for years now, but I never found the answer to it. CR smiles at me like an idiot, admiring my confusion.

"Well?" He asks again, pointing the camera at my face.

"Do you?" I ask, deflecting the question, because I really don't know the answer to it.

"You know I do, Kate, don't go all weird on me." He pauses for a moment. "Stupid camera." He shakes the camera slightly and taps it a few times.

"What's wrong?" I step closer.

"The camera's not working well. It suddenly stopped recording, and now there's a slight static all over the screen. I guess I'll have to turn it off."

What CR just told me wouldn't be anything special if it wasn't because it looked like the temperature suddenly dropped a few degrees in the last few seconds. CR seems to notice it, too. His face shows an emotion I don't recognize.

"Great. Just what we needed. Anything else that can go wrong?" I know he's not really pissed, it's all just an act. CR loves acting.

"Do you think we should go back? Or..." I stop mid-sentence, because my flashlight begins acting weird, too. "What the..." My batteries die and we're left in the total darkness.

"Kate." CR calls me. I don't react. "Kate!" He nudges me, and I turn around. His eyes are darting around the forest, like he's expecting something could jump on us any second. I think we both agree that, whatever's happening, it's not normal. "I think we should indeed go back."

I nod and CR begins running in a direction we both don't know. I want to tell him our houses are the other way, but he's already too far away. I can't leave him in here. I have to go after him.

I catch up with him after a few minutes of screaming for him to come back. Even now, when I'm running at his side, trying to avoid the trees and other obstacles, he acts like he doesn't know I'm next to him. What has gotten into him? I grab his arm to call his attention and stop running. He resists, but soon gives up and stares me in the eyes.

"What are you doing?" I say, while panting. "You know our houses are the other way." His skin looks pale and it takes him a while to respond. And when he does, it's just a simple nod. It's hard to distinguish it, when we only have the moonlight to see each other. "Can we head back now?" This time, he gives no reaction at all, so I drag him along with me through the forest.

"I... I saw something." He mumbles when we're almost home. This catches my attention, so I stop walking and turn to him.

"What did you see?" I ask him, with keen interest.

"I... I don't exactly... I don't know." He lowers his head and moves his feet uncomfortably. "It was... I don't know... Something white."

"Something white." I repeat for myself. "Could you tell me a bit more about it? Because it's not very... detailed."

CR takes a few steps back, avoiding eye contact at all cost. I know for sure something's not right.

"I'll just take you home." I say, before grabbing his sleeve and dragging him to his house. "Tell me more about it tomorrow."

"Okay." Is the only answer I get. God, I can't wait for tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

I walk back to my house after dropping off CR. He seemed really upset about... What did he say? Something white? Maybe it was the reflection of the moon on the leaves or something, but CR was never one of those scaredy-cats. I don't think he would so easily mistake the moon for something else.

I walk to the swingset in the garden and sit on top of the slide. From here, I could see the whole garden. Such a shame I couldn't see the forest, because there was a thick brick wall between it and the garden. I was never really sad about it, though. When I was little I used to make a big pile of all the stuff I could lay my hands on and get on top of the wall. Then, my mother came out of the front door, screaming for me to come back down. Nothing ever happened to me, of course, but she didn't like it.

I take a deep sigh before checking my backpack; the only thing in there is my flashlight, which I take out for inspection. I've had it for a couple of months, and nothing ever happened to it. I inserted new batteries this afternoon, so that isn't it, either. I turn the flashlight on, only to discover it now works perfectly. It must have been some kind of technical problem. Some sort of shut-down, like what computers do when you've almost finished a paper without saving you have to deliver to you teacher tomorrow. I decide to leave it at that.

But, in the end, I don't. I can't avoid thinking about how CR's camera acted weird, too. Was it an electromagnetic field? Impossible, because we've been there before and nothing ever happened. Maybe... just coincidence? Funny, but no. I guess there's only one possible solution, then.

We've been in the company of a ghost.

It's the only reasonable explanation. My flashlight, the static and malfunction of CR's camera, CR running away and being all upset. It all makes sense. Apparently, CR saw the ghost, but I didn't. Maybe he was behind me or something. But then, how come it he didn't attack me when he had the chance? I stood with my back turned to him, unarmed, defenseless. He had every chance he could've wished for. CR scared as hell, leaving me alone in the middle of the dark forest. And still, he didn't attack me. Maybe he's playing with us? Messing with our brains so we go insane and he can slowly, but painfully kill us?

I think that's it. He's just playing tricks with us. So that we end up nuts. We'll be at his mercy, begging him to kill us, or killing ourselves. I don't want to end up like that, though. Nobody wants to.

I glide down the slide and run into my house. I don't want to think about this anymore. I'll leave it for tomorrow. I slam the front door shut behind me.

"Mom! Dad! I'm back!" I scream at the top of my lungs. It's not that late; I don't think they've gone to bed, yet. I get no response, though, so I think maybe it wasn't such a smart idea of screaming as loud as I could. I throw my backpack in the hall and lunge upstairs. Ready to tiptoe into the corridor that leads to my room, I distinguish a steady and heavy breathing. I hide behind one of the walls and try to be as silent as possible. Still, when I take a peek into the corridor, the breathing stops in vain and there's no one there. Was it my imagination, which is still so upset about the ghost stuff it's making it up? Maybe... I don't know.

I carefully walk to my room at the end of the corridor, checking all doors for signs of life, but even my parent's room is dead silent. Once I'm inside my room, I close the door behind me. I feel so exhausted, all I want is to go to bed. I'll shower in the morning, I promise myself.

I put on my pajamas and look outside the window. I never use the curtains, watching the forest and the sky calms me down. But right now, it's upsetting me. Sometimes I swear I catch a glint of white and black, but those are the colors most widely spread through the forest at night, so I just turn my back to the window and welcome the darkness that consumes me.


	4. Chapter 4

The rays of sunlight filtering through the window wake me up in a peaceful way. All worries or stress that had been present yesterday have disappeared. I lay in my bed, too lazy to move, even though I know I'll eventually have to get up. My mother doesn't call me for breakfast or anything, which is good, because then I'm no forced to move.

Just around noon, I get a bit bored and crawl out of bed. I literally crawl through the hallway until I reach the bathroom, where I turn on the shower so the water can warm up while I take off my pajamas.

I step into the shower and look at my feet while the water falls on my skin and hair. Suddenly, I feel needles being stuck in my ankles; it stings so much I fall on my knees, but I restrain my screams before they leave my throat. The water beneath me colors red and I know something's incredibly wrong. Pulling my feet from beneath me, I can now see my ankles clearly: there are long, deep cuts all over them. They're blooding as if they're fresh, but I don't know how I could've gotten them. I think I just accidentally opened a couple of them, but in that case, how's it possible I hadn't noticed them? There are many, and they're pretty severe. It's not just one of those things that goes unnoticed.

I turn off the shower, which seems to calm down the pain pretty much, and wrap myself up in a towel. I walk back to my room, trying not to catch my parents' attention, which is difficult, because I have to lean against the wall in order not to fall down.

I, miraculously, make it to my room and close the door behind me. It takes me a few moments to notice what changed in here: written on one of my walls, in big, red letters, it says: "I'm watching". I carefully approach it, trying not to freak out, until I'm standing right in front of it. I run my fingers across the W and accidentally smear the red... thing across the wall. It's still fresh. And I know what it is.

It's human blood.

Adrenaline pumps through my body as I back off of the wall and hit the door with my back. I'm dreaming. None of this is true. I can wake up at any moment now, laying in my bed, with not a single sign of wounds on my ankles, clean walls...

I know it's too much to wish for because, when I pinch myself in the arm, nothing changes. Still the same wounds on my ankles. The same bloody message on the wall. The same headache that prevents me from thinking straight...

Wait. That's new. I didn't have that before. Where did that come from?

I have to get out of here, so I turn around, open the door and run for the stairs. I run downstairs, well, not really running... remember my ankles hurt. It's more like a painful way of jogging.

Hell breaks loose. My parents are nowhere to be seen. I've got the feeling someone is following me, but when I turn around, there's no one there. My headache gets worse and worse, I can't line up my thoughts correctly. My ankles block at every attempt of moving faster. The towel around me is wrapped tightly, but I'm not planning to go outside dressed like this. Right now, I really, really wish my parents were here...

I run to the garage, only to find it empty. I don't care. I move to one of the corners and pull out my dad's shotgun. It's supposed to be hidden, out of my reach, because it could be dangerous for me, but I've always known where it was. And luckily, I know how to handle it, too.

I stand a bit taller than before, knowing I'm not as vulnerable than I was before. With both my hands on the shotgun, I patrol around the house once to check everything's in place. Of course, I don't even think about going to my room. I'm not going back in there. Not in a million years.

I finally feel a bit safer now. I no longer have the feeling I'm being followed. My headache begins to get a bit better, but I'm still not feeling completely well. My ankles... Well, they haven't gotten any better, but not worse, either.

I sit at the bottom of the stairs, the shotgun protectively over my lap. Every single suspicious movement will earn a bullet from my dad's gun. And I won't even regret it.

Right when I think it's all over, the nightmare is gone, the agony and pain returns, but doubled this time. I cry out in pain as I try to guide myself though this hell. I can hear my own screams and I'm terrified; what is happening to me?

The last thing I remember before everything went black was a loud laugh and a flash of white light in front of my eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

I sit on the slide, watching as the sun sets, showing off his beautiful colors. The temperature is dropping slightly, but I don't care. The tranquility of this moment seems to be endless. And I'm enjoying it.

"Honey, wake up! What happened?" I hear mom yell, with a clear hint of horror in her voice.

I look around, but I can't see her. Is she just playing a trick on me? Probably.

I hear my mom cry in the distance, and I know she's not faking. And her voice comes from inside the house.

I go down the slide and run into the house. The front door is open, which surprises me, because one of the rules in our house is to always close the doors.

Once I'm inside the house, I stop dead in my tracks: my mother is leaning over something laying on the staircase. I call my mother over and over, but she doesn't respond. It's like she doesn't know I'm her. I try to grab her by the shoulder, but my hand shoots straight through her. What is happening?

I take a few steps back, startled, then cautiously walk up the stairs a few steps. Now lying next to me, I can see my own body, my face pale, my eyes closed, and blood everywhere. My mother is leaning over me, crying. And I'm just standing here, helpless.

Still not really believing my eyes, I touch my body... Then, there's a flash so bright it almost makes me blind, and I'm laying on the staircase, exactly where my body was, and my mother is leaning now over me. Oh, wait, I am the body.

I guess my mother didn't see my eyes flutter open, but there's no way she doesn't notice me slowly putting my hand on her back. Every inch of me hurts, and all I want to do right now is lay down and fall asleep, to see if some of the pain goes away.

I grunt as I try to sit up straight, and my mother helps me, while she keeps repeating over and over that she thought I was dead and that it's a miracle I'm still alive. I pay no attention to her, though, because I'm looking over her shoulder at a black silhouette that's standing in the gateway. He's standing so far away from me, I can't really tell much about him, but I do know it was a man. I can't see his face, but I can feel he's looking at me. A cold chill runs down my spine as I try to convince myself it's just my imagination, so I look back at my mother for a second and then over her shoulder again, and then he isn't there anymore. What the... What is happening here? Since yesterday everything had gone wrong.

My mother hugs me tightly and I grunt again. She lets go and helps me up the stairs and into my bed. She closes the curtains and tells me to go to sleep, but, of course, I don't. After all that happened to me, I simply can't.

Staring into the darkness for what seems like hours, my thoughts begin to float off. I've got the feeling I can't move my body, but my eyes don't close. I'm afraid what I'll find if I fall asleep. And I'm not planning on finding out.

At one point, I can hear the front door open and close and suppose my father has arrived. I can hear footsteps walking to the kitchen and very silent whispers. I'm wondering what my mother will be telling my father happened. I didn't tell her about that weird dream where I could see myself dying in front of me, which may be an important detail.

Eventually, I begin dozing off, and the last thought I have is: "Something's happening, and I'm going to find out what it is, no matter what."

Then, I welcome the darkness that engulfs me.


	6. Chapter 6

When I wake up again, it's already night. I look at my alarm clock and see it's 3 A.M.. I've slept the whole day. I try to go back to sleep, so I can wake up in the morning and start again with my daily routine, but I can't.

I sneak out of my room and make sure my parents are asleep. Of course they are. I walk down the stairs, doing my best not to make any noise, but accidentally knocking down a few thing on my way. I quickly hide in the kitchen and wait for the noise coming out of my parents' room to stop.

I sit on top of the shelf, legs crossed, looking at the clock on the refrigerator as minutes tick by. At some point, I swear I heard my mother get up, but if she really did, she never got back into her bed, and that's why I think I just imagined it.

At 4:27, I can hear something rustling outside. After everything that has been happening lately, I decide not to go check out what it is, nor do I want to know. The sound mixes itself with the sounds of the night and seems to disappear, but it doesn't. The rustling becomes more and more intense, and it reaches the point I conclude it's not just the rustling of leaves. Something's happening outside.

I jump off the shelf and run to the living room, where I know is a spare flashlight in one of the drawers. I pick it up and check the batteries: great, they're charged. I turn the flashlight on and walk to a window. The darkness soon disappears as I point my flashlight out of it. The gate is open, so I can see the tree line and a bit of the forest. Despite the limited distance of the light that comes out of the flashlight, I can still distinguish a dark shadow, well hidden in the shadow of the tree line.

I try to resist the urge of running out the house to find out what's hiding out there. I really do. But I can't.

I quietly open the front door and leave it partially open so I can get back inside later. With the flashlight pointing in front of me, I run to the spot where the shadow was. Still, I find nothing. Whatever was here before, it has left without leaving a single clue.

I step deeper into the forest, and the flashlight does everything it can to illuminate my path, but it isn't enough. I can only see a few feet ahead from me. Luckily I know these woods well, but usually I'm not alone.

I can hear breaking twigs left from me, and I point my flashlight in that direction. Standing just a few feet away from me, almost out of my flashlight's reach, is standing the most horrible thing I've ever seen.

A black shadow, man-like, at least seven feet tall, with the palest skin I've ever seen, is looking down at me. Its tuxedo is as black as the night and his tie is blood-red. But what scares me most is his face... well, the lack of it.

I slowly back up, while the man cocks his head to one side and looks at me. When he raises a hand in my direction, I drop my flashlight and run to my house.

Run. Run for your life.

That's the only thought trailing through my head while I run back to my house. I reach the front door, only to find it closed and locked. I run around the house, but everything's closed. I'm at the edge of screaming so my parents wake up and open the door for me, when I remember the spare key we keep hidden in one of the plant pots. Okay, that's a lucky strike.

I close the door behind me and run up the stairs, past my parents' room, into mine. I close the door behind me and begin closing all the curtains, but before I close the last one, I take a peek outside. And there he is, standing in the middle of our garden... and he's looking up at me. I close the curtains and jump into my bed, covering my head with the blanket, blocking out everything.


	7. Chapter 7

It's been a long, sleepless night. The bloody message on the wall is now dark red. The one time my mother has been into my room since I found the message there she hadn't noticed it because she was too busy with me.

As soon as I see the sunlight shining through my curtains, I get out of bed, still feeling a little sting in my ankles, but I've been taking extra care of them and they've been improving a lot.

Before completely opening the curtains, I take a peek out of my window, hoping not to see anything special outside, and feeling relieved when there's nothing.

Feeling better already, I open the window and stick my head out. The gate is still open, but there's nothing standing in the tree line now...

Lying on the swingset is my flashlight, which I had left there the night after I went ghost hunting with CR. The spare one must still be in the forest, I'll go find it today. And, most important of all, I'm going to make sure CR is okay.

I wait a couple of hours before heading downstairs and running to the kitchen. My mother's already there, pouring herself some coffee, and when she sees me, her face lights up.

"Hey honey, how are you feeling?" She asks with a sweet voice.

"I'm fine." I lie, opening the fridge and grabbing the milk.

"Well, about yesterday..." My mother says. I look at her and, if looks could kill, she'd be dead. Still, she continues talking. "... I suppose you don't know what happened? 'Cause something must've happened."

"I've got no idea. I remember going downstairs, walking around the house and then everything went black." I answer. I won't tell her about my 'dream' until I figure out what it means.

"Okay. I'm just glad you're all right." She kisses me on the cheek and walks to the dining room. "Oh, and by the way, your father and I are leaving for the day. We're sure you'll be fine. If you need anything, just call us. And you can go visit CR or invite him over if you're bored."

"I was already planning on doing that." I say. I grab a mug and pour the milk into it. I shift my weight, but it hurts my ankles, so I sit on top of the shelf instead.

I finish my milk and walk upstairs to change into my normal clothes. Halfway there, I bump into my father, who hugs me tightly and kisses my head before checking if I'm all right and letting me go.

Reaching my room, I collapse onto my bed and refuse to move. Looking up, the first thing I see is the bloody message, and I make a mental note to clean up that mess later today.

I walk to my closet and put on the first clothes I find: jeans, a black shirt and a white hoodie. I walk to the bathroom and pull out the first-aid kit and wrap a bandage around my ankles. How is it possible I didn't think of that before?

While I'm putting on my shoes, outside I can hear the engine of my parent's car being turned on, which means my parents are leaving. I walk downstairs, grab an apple and put it in my pocket. I grab my cell phone and call CR while retrieving my keys.

 _"Hello?"_ I hear on the other side of the line.

"Hey, CR, it's me. Is it okay if I come over?" I ask.

" _Yeah, of course, come whenever you want._ " I can hear him chuckle.

"Great. Because I've got a lot of stuff to tell you."

" _Okay._ _We'll talk when you get here."_

"Kay. Bye!" And, having said, that, I hang up the phone.

Five minutes later, I'm walking through the forest, apple in hand. I find the flashlight lying on the ground, batteries around it. I'm not even going to ask myself why. I pick them up and put them in my pocket.

I finish my apple just before arriving at CR's house. The gate's open, so I walk in and there he is, sitting on his doorstep, looking so bored I think he's been waiting there for me the whole time. He cheers up when he sees me, though.

"Hey!" He screams, while he stands up and runs at me. He hugs me tightly and I squirm in his arms.

"Hey, get off me, you're not a tick!" I laugh, and he lets go and steps back.

"I'm so happy to see you..." He begins, but he stops when he sees me hobble. "What happened?"

"Nothing." I lie. "I was walking though the forest and I stepped into some bushes, but I didn't see the thorns."

"Oh..." Is everything he says. I can see in his eyes he doesn't believe me, but he doesn't question it, either. "Let's go inside." I nod and follow him into his house.

Walking into his house, I can feel the atmosphere is different: it used to be relaxed and quiet, but now it's tense. I decide to ignore it, though. My house hasn't been the same since what happened, either.

Still, when we walk into his room, I'm speechless. My eyes dart around, but there's not a single inch of his room that hasn't been altered. His walls have been painted with something black (charcoal, maybe), but they're not ordinary paintings: a person that looks an awful lot like the one I saw last night, standing in the middle of the woods, accompanied by terrifying messages like "Leave me alone" or "Help me". And then, there's also this circle with a cross in it; it's everywhere, drawn on his floor and walls, marked into his closets.

I look at CR and see he's as horrified as I am. I begin to back up and so does CR.

"Kate..." He whispers, but he knows I'm not listening. "Kate..." He repeats. "I've got to tell you something."


	8. Chapter 8

My brain is too busy trying pick up everything at once to even notice CR shaking me gently.

"Kate!" He screams in my ear, and I automatically back up even more and push him off me.

"What!" I scream back, and finally take my eyes off the horror in front of me. I really want to run away, run from this terror and never come back, but I can't. My feet won't move when I tell them to.

"I... I..." He stays quiet after that, lowering his head and shaking it.

"CR, what happened?" I ask, still terrified.

"Something's out there. It's watching us." He looks around frantically, as if he was noticing something looking at us.

"Where are your parents?" I ask him, ignoring his sudden suspicion attack.

"They went to the city. They won't come back 'till tomorrow morning." He looks at me. "Why?"

"Great. Let's go downstairs and then you'll tell me what happened." I also have to tell you a couple of things."

I walk to the stairs, but CR runs past me and into the dining room. He sits on top of the table, and I feel like the old CR has returned for a moment. It's such a brief moment, but it's enough to make me smile.

He wrinkles his nose while showing an emotion I don't recognize before patting the empty space next to him. I sit down and he sighs.

"Look, since the last time we went ghost hunting, like, two days ago, weird things have been going on." He pauses for a moment, like he's expecting me to say something, but I'm planning to keep my mouth shut and wait for him to finish his story before beginning mine. "I- I don't know what has happened, exactly, but... It wasn't pleasant. Yeah, let's just call it like that." Another pause. "Have you seen Paranormal Activity?"

I nod. I've seen the first three movies, and I would've seen the fourth one also if it wasn't because those movies were boring. But now, when I feel what the characters felt, it's not so boring anymore.

"So you have. Well, What's been going on here could be compared with those movies. I can see things moving on their own, feel someone observing me, lights being turned on and off. But the attacks didn't start until yesterday night..." He shivers and I put a hand on his shoulder for support. "Things have been thrown at me. Voices have been whispering in my ear and told me to do awful things. And-"

"Stop it, CR, don't worry. I understand."

"Kate, I'm afraid." He whispers, barely audible. "I don't want to spend the night alone."

"Me neither." He looks at me questioningly. I tell him my story, about the appearances, the wounds on my ankles, the bloody message on the wall of my room and even about that weird dream I had. CR keeps quiet while I explain and when I finish, his face is blank.

"How do you think this wil end? Us getting murdered by whatever's out there?"

"I'm not planning on dying like that. I'm going to find out what's happening. Are you willing to join me?" I jump off the table and stand in front of him to get a better look at him. He looks at me and I see he's considering my offer.

"Yes, I am." He looks at me and I see the faintest of smiles being drawn across his face. I take a step back and he jumps off the table. "Where do we start?"

"First, I think we should take a look in your room, see what we can find." I shiver at my own sentence, and so does CR. "I'm sorry, but it's the best place to start." His face is pale, but he nods and walks upstairs without saying another word.

I go after him and find him ripping the papers off the walls. I walk over and grab some of them, too, and he hands me over the ones he had grabbed. I sit on the floor and begin checking the papers. The messages on the papers aren't very elaborate, some of them are even useless, like "Help me" or "No No No". Others give a bit of information, like "Always watches, no eyes" or "Don't look... Or it takes you", but all of them are disturbing and terrifying. I grab a blank page and a pencil and begin writing down all the messages.

"Can't run... Help me, Leave me alone..:" I begin muttering. CR comes over and watches me work. I don't look up until I'm done, and when I do so, I see his hands are covered with blood and he's holding something. "What's that?" I ask him, my eyes shifting between his face and his hands.

"This? It's just a rag, no need to worry." He says, showing the bloody rag. "I'm just cleaning up the blood so we can work better. I couldn't concentrate while there was blood smeared all across the room." I nod and look at my notes and the papers. The drawings on them have been made with no dedication whatsoever: they're simply a bunch of straight lines.

I make a draft of the symbol made with charcoal across the wall and begin brainstorming about its meaning. Next to the symbol, I make another draft of the creature I've been seeing for the last two days. CR sits next to me and looks horrified when he sees the draft of the creature.

"Where did you get that from?" He whispers. I put away the paper and pencil and look at him. He doesn't meet my gaze and know he's doing it on purpose.

"Why? Have you seen him?" I ask him. He nods slightly and I see him look away.

"He's the person I saw while we were ghost hunting. I've seen him a couple of times over the last two days, too." He looks at me, with such a forced face I know he's closer to crying than he is to smiling. "What do you think we should do?"

"I think we should go visit him." He opens his mouth but closes it before he makes any sound.

"When?" He asks when he opens his mouth again. "Tomorrow morning?"

"If we wait that long, he'll have more than enough time to strike. We can't wait for that to happen. We're going tonight."


	9. Chapter 9

"Water?"

"Check."

"Camera?"

"Check."

"Flashlight?"

CR checks his bag and sighs.

"Flashlight?" I repeat.

"No, left it upstairs. I'll go get it.". He begins walking to the stairs, but stops and turns around to look at me. "Should I bring one for you, too?"

"No, I brought mine." I say, while pulling the flashlight out of my pocket. Remembering that the batteries were scattered around the flashlight when I found it, I grab the batteries and begin putting them in the flashlight. CR looks abscent and doesn't react when I look at him. When I call his name, though, he returns to reality and walks upstairs to go get himself a flashlight.

I make sure mine works and I'm happy to know it does. Whatever took it yesterday hasn't broken it.

I put it back in my pocket just before CR returns, flashlight in one hand, and with a jacket folded over his other arm. He drops the jacket next to the bag and then crouches to put some sandwiches into the bag.

"Ready?" I ask him. He stands up and puts on the jacket.

"Yeah. You?" I swear he looks very pale, like he feels very ill and not ready to do this, but he doesn't complain and I'm not going to be the one to bring up that topic. And we'll have to figure this out sooner or later.

I nod in approval and he picks up the bag. I offer him to wear the bag myself, but he declines my offer and walks out the front door. I follow him.

Just as we step outside, the wave of cold air sends chills down my spine, just like it had done before. Luckily I brought my jacket in the morning, I don't even know why I did it, but it's a choice I don't regret.

CR's acting so weird I put my hand on his shoulder to calm him down a bit, but he flinches away and begins walking very quickly. I can barely match his pace.

He walks straight into the forest, in the direction we least know. I try to convince him to turn around, but he ignores me and continues walking.

After five minutes or so, he leans against a tree and looks at me with a blank face. I try to look furious, but I can't stop being worried about him. He opens his bag and pulls out the camera. Only this time he doesn't film me for even a second. Only the forest around him. He doesn't say anything, either.

"CR, are you okay?" I ask the camera, hoping for another reaction than the one he's been giving me since we entered the forest. He nods so slightly I wouldn't even have seen it if I weren't looking for it. He begins walking away again. I stomp behind him, now being really pissed off. "Will you at least stop acting like a baby, CR? Do you think I like doing this?!" I yell at him.

Well, at least I caught his attention.

He turns around, looking down. He shuts down his camera and puts it in his pocket. Still keeping his head low, he begins taking hesitant steps towards me. Not knowing what to do, I stay where I am.

Bad choice.

When he's standing just a couple of yards away, he sprints at me and pins me to a tree. While he's holding me in the air with his hand around my throat, he finally looks up at me. He's furious. I begin panicking, I can't breathe.

 _"This is it. This is when I die. I die in the hands of my friend."_ I think over and over, while my vision begins getting blurry. I whimper, but it doesn't help. CR's hand is firmly gripped around my throat. Just when I think I'm dead, I feel I'm being dropped.

The first thing I do is bring my hands to my throat. Happy to know I'm not dead, I sigh. I look up and see CR looking down at me, not moving a single muscle to help me. I do see regret in his eyes. I don't get the chance to read his face any further, because he turns around and begins walking away.

I stand up, but I get dizzy and lean against the tree to avoid falling on the ground. CR looks over his shoulder for just a split second and continues walking away. I want to call him, but my throat's too sore and I don't know if calling him would be a good idea.

 _"CR, what happened? Why are you acting like this?"_ I ask him mentally, while a tear begins rolling down my face. I fall on my knees and turn off my flashlight: there's nothing I'd like to see now out there. I can still faintly see CR's light casting out shadows, but it disappears in a matter of seconds, leaving me alone in the darkness.


	10. Chapter 10

I stay there for a long time, defeated, but with a spark of hope that he'd return. But he never did.

The sun persists in rising, so I make myself stand. It isn't cold anymore, but I keep my jacket on to protect myself and to hide the bruise on my neck, just in case I find anyone.

I consider going back to my home and telling my parents everything that happened, but I decide not to. I'm going to find CR and I'm going to solve this.

Remembering I've got nothing but a flashlight and that I'm starving, I begin wandering around until I find a strawberry plant. After eating every single one of the strawberries, I feel fully recovered and ready to go. Thinking about CR still makes something in my chest sting, but knowing I'm going to help him takes the pain away. At least, partially.

I'd be completely lost if I didn't know the sun rises in the east, and that's exactly where CR went. Following a non-existent track, I quickly find a sand path of which I didn't know it existed.

I decide to follow the path, without knowing where I'm going. I've got more chances of finding him if I just go where the path takes me.

Leaving the sun behind me, I follow the path, no matter how many times it changes direction. Soon I find myself walking to a big tunnel.

"What the... What is this place?!" I whisper. I enter the tunnel and there's amost no light. Luckily I've still got my flashlight with me. I turn it off and walk inside the tunnel.

Soon I find some crates piled up, and written on these crates is "Kullman". I quickly recognize it as a brand that brings materials from the mines to the factories, where they will be prepared for whatever they're going to be used for.

So I'm inside a mine now. Great.

The mine is only slightly illuminated by the dim lights that are hanging from the walls. It' not enough to see clearly, so once again I thank myself mentally for taking my flashlight with me. Altough there are still a lot of machines working in here, this place feels empty. Like there's no one here.

I turn around and I begin walking back to the entrance, but a noise from inside the mine makes me stop. It's like something has been thrown over.

I stand there for a moment, considering if I should run or go deeper into the mine. Finally, I guess curiosity wins, because my feet make me turn around and shine my flashlight into the depths again.

The sound of working generators gets louder and louder, so I know I'm approaching the working area. The piles of crates on both sides of the path get higher and higher.

Normally, inside a mine, the temperature is very high, but here it feels like it's freezing. I wonder why.

I see some metallic stairs and decide to check everything out from a higher level. Once I'm upstairs, I see something that I didn't expect: I'm in a giant room, in which the paths are marked by the piles of crates. Here and there there are green lights shining from the ceiling which indicate where the working generators are. At one side of the room, there is an elevator, and it seems to be working.

Still, I'm not going to enter it. Too risky.

The sound of something heavy hitting metal makes me freak out. It's not just any metal. It's the sound of something running up metal stairs.

I run away from the sound, but it's coming after me. I look over my shoulder and see nothing. Even though I want to scream, I know it won't help; I haven't seen anyone since CR left me to fend for myself.

"Don't run." I hear a voice growl. It's clearly a boy who's talking. Of course, I do the exact opposite of what I'm told. I'm not stupid.

Something catches my foot and I fall on the ground, hitting the metal underneath me hard with my jaw. I grunt and try to sit up, bringing my hands to my jaw to check if it's okay. Luckily, it is. I hear the same voice I heard earlier chuckling. And the sound's coming from in front of me. And there are two sneakers standing in front of me.

And I know those sneakers.

I look up and see a very deteriorated CR looking down at me. His eyes seem lost, like his soul has been sucked out of him. His hair is messy and his jacket is full of cuts. He's got a big bruise on his left cheek and fingernail marks on his hands. His lip has been busted and his clothes are not only cut up, but also very, very dirty.

We spend a moment that seems like an eternity looking at each other, but his eyes stay as empty as before.

He's the first one to make a move, and it's not the kind of move I was hoping for. He closes his eyes, turns around and looks down. His hands go inside his jacket pockets and takes out something that takes me a split second to recognize... He's holding a knife.

He hides it from my sight, but it's too late. I've already seen it. He turns back to me slowly, keeping the knife out of my sight, but when he sees my face he knows I've already seen it. When I think I can finally move to run away, he's already tackling me.

He pins me to the ground, holding my shoulders with his knees. He begins playing with the knife, holding it in front of my face, but acting like I'm not there. I try to move, but CR's not weak.

Just when it seems like he's done playing, he looks at me and I see a glint of sorrow in his eyes. Just a bit. But it's enough for me to know CR's not totally gone.

"I'm sorry." He whispers, just before hitting me with the knife and making the world go black.


	11. Chapter 11

"Honey. Honey, wake up." The voice of my mother calls me. My eyes flutter open and here I am, laying in my bed, with my mother sitting next to me.

"Mom?" I call, but my throat hurts and I remember the bruise on my neck. I cover my neck with my hand. "What happened?"

My mother sighs and pets my hair. I can see relief and concern mixed on her face.

"Wait." I say before she can even open her mouth to answer my question. "I remember." I rub the back of my head, but it hurts. CR probably hit me in the back of the head to make me black out. "CR. He began acting weird and then he escaped into the woods. I went after him. I ended up in the Kullman mines. CR followed me there. He tried to kill me. Twice."

"What are you talking about?" My mother asks me, surprised. "He's the one who brought you back home."

I'm taken off-guard by the words of my mother. She looks very serious.

"Wh-What!?" I scream. "But-But that's impossible! He tried to kill me! Not even once! He ran away from me but then followed me and attacked me with a knife!"

My mother gives me a concerned look and shakes her head slightly.

"He carried you home all the way from the mines. Your dad and I already supposed you'd spend the night at CR's house, so we weren't worried, but when CR came here looking like he'd spent weeks in the wild, carrying an unconscious you, we really freaked out. CR stayed for a while to make sure you were okay, which you luckily were, until we sent him home. You should go and check out if he's all right. He looked kind of shocked when he arrived here.

"No surprise." I say, while rubbing my eyes. "He's as bipolar as a schizophrenic patient sometimes."

"I think you're just a bit groggy from the blow to your head." She pats the back of her head. "I think you should just get some rest." She tucks me in and stands up.

"Mom." I call her. She turns around and looks at me. "Do you believe me?"

She doesn't answer, she just walks to the entrance of my room, turns off the lights and closes the door behind her.

I turn around to check the time. 11:40 P.M.. I've been out all day.

I know I haven't dreamt everything that happened. CR attacked me. The bruises on my neck and on the back of my head prove it.

Also, I'm not going to check out if he's okay. I'm afraid of what he might do if we're left alone in the same room. He's strong enough to strangle me with his hands, and he just showed he's capable of snapping my neck.

I decide the best thing I can do now is just go to sleep. I turn on my side and close my eyes. Still, I can't sleep.

Hours and hours go by and I can't sleep. I check out the time again and again, but it's no use. It's 4 A.M. now, and I'm still as awake as I've been all night.

Knowing it's one of the worst things I could do, but not really caring, I tiptoe out of my room and downstairs. I walk to the front door and go to the swingset. Sitting on top of the slide, like I always do, I see the flashlight next to me. Yeah, I left it there the last time CR and I went ghost hunting.

I pick it up and shine it in front of me, tracing circles on the grass with the light. Shining it at the gate, I see it's closed, which kind of relieves me. Last time it was open and I wasn't especially happy with what happened then.

I wonder if CR's behavior has anything to do with that figure I saw standing in the forest line and in the forest. I mean, he told me he also saw it. It has been following us both since that day in the woods. And its appearances aren't very friendly.

I go down the slide and go for a walk around the house with the flashlight. Once I'm back in the front yard, something makes the blood freeze in my veins.

The gate is open.

I haven't heard a single noise that could've been the gate opening, and all the lights in the house are still turned off. The temperature seems to drop a few degrees, just like it has done a couple of times before that figure appeared.

"So you're there, huh?" I growl to the air. "Show yourself, coward!"

Just after the last word left my mouth, the figure suddenly appears, standing 20 yards away from me. There were tentacles as black as darkness itself growing from its spine, moving impatiently. I take a few steps back and run to the house. I left the door open, so luckily I can directly run inside. I slam the door behind me, blocking the monster out.

Of course, there was no way my parents wouldn't hear the door slam. They come running downstairs just a moment after I did it. My mother looks concerned, while my father is still rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Sweetie, what are you doing out of bed? And why do you have your flashlight in your hand?"

"I couldn't sleep, mom, so I went for a walk outside. I saw a hog and ran back home, that's why I slammed the door. Sorry." I lied. With everything that has been happening to me lately, I don't want my mother to worry even more. Plus, I don't think she'd ever believe me. It'd be like in a horror movie: when I try to show her the creature, it won't appear.

"Well, just... Just go put the flashlight back in its place and try to get some sleep, okay?" My father says, before heading back upstairs, followed by my mother.

I walk to the dining room for no reason and sit on top of the table. As soon as I'm there, I notice I'm not only terrified, but also hungry. And thirsty. Very, very thirsty.

So I jump off the table and go to the kitchen to get some food and to drink water. I feel regenerated when I'm done. I feel so good, I think I might be able to get some sleep if I try to.

So I walk upstairs, into my room, close the door behind me and lay on my bed. And, surprisingly, I manage to fall asleep.


	12. Chapter 12

"Honey, wake up! Someone's here to see you!" My mother calls from downstairs. I groan and sit on the edge of my bed.

"What?" I scream. I hear the front door opening and closing and chatting downstairs. My mother's talking with someone. The voice is too low to belong to a girl, and my father's at work so...

I stand up quickly, get some clothes and lock myself up in the bathroom. I take a very, very quick shower and get dressed. I brush my hair and sit on the toilet. What am I going to do? I don't want to see him.

I hear footsteps running upstairs and someone knock on the door. I don't move.

Someone walks in my room, but I stay quiet. The footsteps walk around my room for a second with a very calm pace, and then head towards me. The sound stops when it has reached the other side of the door.

Suddenly, the door moves a bit and I know he's leaning against it.

"Kate, what's wrong?" He asks.

"Go away." I growl.

"I won't until this is solved." His voice stays very calm. I stand up and walk to the mirror. Tears are threatening to fall.

"There's no way of solving this if you keep acting the same way you've been acting lately. So please, leave me alone." He sighs and tries to turn the door knob. When he sees the door is locked from the inside, he pounds the door.

"Kate, come on!" He complains. "Let me in and we'll solve this!" I walk to the door and lean against it. The first tear is already rolling down my cheek.

"No, CR. I'm sorry."

I suppose he noticed I'm crying, because he stops making any kind of noise and he doesn't say anything, either. I can hear him walk away from the door and pace around my room. I stay quiet, hoping he'd eventually get tired of this and he would go away.

Five minutes later, with CR still pacing around my room, I know he won't go away. I walk away from the door and sit on the toilet again. CR comes back to the door and begins whispering against it.

"I know you're hearing me. I just..." He stops for a moment. "I just need you to know that... I... I don't know what happened."

Wait. What?! "When?" I whisper.

"Yesterday. I remember us leaving my house and going into the forest: next thing I know is it's afternoon, and I'm sitting in the middle of the forest, next to a path. I followed it into a tunnel. I found you in there: you had a big bruise on your neck and another one on the back of your head. It scared the living daylights out of me. I was incredibly worried. I carried you home. I wanted to stay with you to make sure you were okay, but your mother sent me home."

Although it takes me a lot of effort to do so, I unlock the door and open it.

I directly regret doing so.

CR is covered in cuts and bruises. It's clear he's tried to hide some of them, but he hasn't succeeded. His hands are completely red and his nails have been bitten off to the point of bleeding. His eyes are blood-shot. His lip is busted and he's got a long cut on the side of his face.

"CR, what..." I whisper, but I don't have time to finish my sentence. CR hugs me and I don't know how to react. Although it seems like he's also gone through a lot, I'm still scared of what he might do to me.

"I'm glad you're alright." He whispers in my ear. His voice is steady and he's trying to sound normal, but he isn't. He's sore and his voice expresses some kind of depression.

"Yeah, I am. My question is: are you?" I ask him. I can feel him stiffen. He lets me go and looks at me deadpan.

"I guess. I mean, I'm still alive." His face goes pale and I know he's hiding something. Or maybe it's just what he told me about forgetting everything that happened. "Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you. When I woke up in the woods, I found this is my pocket." He puts his hand in his pocket and pulls out the knife he attacked me with yesterday. I back off and he drops it on the ground. "I'm sorry. I had no idea you'd react like this. I just wanted to ask you if you knew where I got it from. Because I've got no idea."

I shake my head frantically. I take another step back and CR raises his hands, like he's surrendering.

"I'm not going to hurt you. I just need you to trust me." He steps forward and I step back again, until I hit the wall with my back. He continues walking to me until I can feel his warm breath in my neck. He gently strokes the bruise on my neck.

"Did I do this to you?" He asks me quietly.

"No." I whisper. He steps back and looks deep in thoughts.

"Strange. Your mother told me you said I did it."

"I was wrong." I answer, raising my voice.

"Then who was it?"

I feel my face go pale and my heart pound faster. Should I tell him the truth? Or not? He steps forward and I cover my head with my arms in protection. He steps back and, when I look at him, I see he's very, very depressed.

"I did it, didn't I?" He asks. Another tear rolls down my face, but CR wipes it away gently. "You know I'd never do this to you." I nod slightly, keeping my head low.

"Then, why did you?"

"I have no idea, Kate. I really didn't mean to do this to you. I'm sorry." He puts his arms around me and lays his chin on the top of my head.

I can feel his quick heartbeat and know he's not lying.

"Kate, I've been doing some research on everything that has been happening lately."

"Did you find something?"

"I have, indeed. I think I've found our dear stalker. His name is Slenderman. Seems like we're not his first victims."

"Hm? And how did they, the other victims, end up?"

"Dead."


	13. Chapter 13

CR holds me tighter, but I fight with him and get loose. He tries to hold my face with his hands, but I run straight past him, slam the bathroom door behind me, run out of my room, also slam the bedroom door behind me and run into the hallway. I can hear CR call me while opening the bathroom door, but I'm already running down the stairs. My parents begin calling me and asking me what's happening from the kitchen, but I ignore them and run out of the house. I run to my dear swingset and sit on the usual place.

CR runs out of the house not much later and looks around for a moment before localizing me and heading towards me. His face is dark but smooth. The fact he has bruises and cuts all over his body doesn't help me, either.

I cover my face when he's standing at the bottom of the slide. He crosses his arms, shifts his weight and looks at me. I look through my fingers carefully only to see him still standing there, in the same position.

"Kate, come down here and we'll talk this through."

"No way." I mutter, loud enough for him to hear.

"Do you want me to come up?" He says, while standing on the bottom of the slide and holding both of the sides with his hands.

"No. Nevermind." I motion for him to step aside, and I slide down. I stand up and walk straight past him to the gate.

"Come on, Kate! How do you want us to solve this if all you do is walk away?" He complains, still standing next to the slide.

"I'm going to solve this. Right now!" I scream over my shoulder, while walking into the forest with CR running after me.

"Will you please stop and just listen to me?!" CR screams, clearly angry. I stand still and look over my shoulder to see him stomping in my direction. "Kate, please, listen to me!"

"I've already listened to you upstairs. It didn't really help, though!" I scream back.

"Weren't you one of those kids who likes to hear the truth? Well, there it is!" He stops when he's standing next to me.

"Well, what's also the truth is that yesterday you tried to strangle me! Or are you going to say again that it wasn't you who did it?!"

"Kate, I already told you: I have no memory whatsoever of what happened during that night and the day after it. If I hurt you, I'm sorry."

"Maybe you should've killed me right away! Then at least I wouldn't be suffering right now!" Tears are streaming down my face, but the rage burning inside me keeps me on my feet. "Why didn't you!?"

CR is looking at me, his mouth wide open. He tries to begin a sentence a couple of times, but gives up and grabs my arm.

"You don't know what you're talking about." He hisses. "I would never do something like that to you. Never." He lets me go and walks into the forest. I've got this urge to slap him, but somehow, I can't. But why not? Things can't get any worse, can they?

"Of course, never except for yesterday!" I scream into the forest, but he's already too far away to hear me.

I run back to the house and into my room, ignoring once again my parents, who are still calling me.

I jump on my bed and lay there in silence. I stare at the knife on the ground next to me and shiver. Where did he get it from? How's it possible he has no memory of what happened during the time we were in the forest?

The door shrieks and I see my mother standing in the entrance.

"Everything all right, honey?" She whispers with a very sweet voice.

I nod absently, which my mother notices, so she walks in and sits on the bed. She strokes my hair and sees the knife on the floor.

"Where did you get that from, sweetie?" She asks with a very sweet voice.

I shrug and shake my head in answer.

"Do you want me to leave you alone?" I guess she noticed my red eyes. I nod slightly, grab my pillow and cover my head with it. I can hear my mother standing up and walking to the door. She stops for a moment in the entrance.

"If you need anything, just tell us. We'll be downstairs." I groan through the pillow and my mother leaves, but she doesn't close the door.

"The door!" I scream through the pillow. There's no reaction, though, so I groan once again before throwing the pillow across the room, standing up and walking to the door. I close it with a slam and lean against it, sliding down until I'm sitting on the floor, with my back leaning against the door.

I stare into the empty space for a few minutes before bursting into tears. I cover my face with my knees and hug my legs. What happened? CR, what's happening? I hadn't noticed how much I actually needed him next to me in this until now. I'm terrified.

It was two hours before I began to quiet down.


End file.
